18 Incredible Restaurants in Alexandria, VA You Need to Try
Alexandria sits on the Potomac River just south of Washington, D.C., and its food scene grows out of that waterfront past. Old Town was laid out in 1749 and was one of the country’s largest ports by 1790. Tavern traditions run deep, from Gadsby’s Tavern, whose buildings date to 1785 and 1792, to Wales Alley, where beer was being sold by 1786. King Street runs from the river through blocks of 18th- and 19th-century buildings, and many of the restaurants line it or sit on the side streets. Del Ray, northwest of Old Town along Mount Vernon Avenue, adds neighborhood breakfast spots and casual dinners.
This guide covers 18 places, from a colonial tavern and a French bistro that opened in 1983 to a seven-course Japanese tasting counter, riverfront dining rooms, a Nepalese dumpling spot and a Del Ray biscuit shop. Ratings and review counts come from each restaurant’s Google listing in October 2026.
Gadsby’s Tavern Restaurant
Gadsby’s Tavern Restaurant is at 138 North Royal Street, in the 1792 City Hotel building that stands beside the older 1785 tavern, which is now a city-run museum. John Gadsby leased the City Tavern from 1796 to 1808, and George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison all came through its doors. Washington twice attended the Birthnight Ball held in his honor. The dining rooms are in a colonial style.
Rated 4.4 stars from more than 800 Google reviews, the restaurant serves a mix of period-inspired and modern American dishes. Regulars point to the peanut soup and the house-made bread and butter. The Tavern Sallad comes with roasted peanuts, grapes and gruyère, and at dinner George Washington’s Favorite is a roasted half duck with a cherry orange glaze. Mini crab cakes are an easy starter.
Reserve through OpenTable, particularly for Sunday brunch or a weekend dinner. The restaurant serves lunch Wednesday through Saturday, dinner Wednesday through Sunday and brunch on Sunday, and it is closed Monday and Tuesday, so check hours before you go. The Gadsby’s Tavern Museum is in the neighboring building and has its own admission and schedule, which makes it easy to pair a tour with a meal.
Address: 138 N Royal St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: gadsbystavernrestaurant.com
Le Refuge
Le Refuge is a small French bistro at 127 North Washington Street, across from Christ Church. Jean-Francois Chaufour and his wife, Francoise, opened it in September 1983, and the restaurant calls itself Old Town’s oldest French restaurant. Their daughter, Anne-Claire Fregnan, now owns and runs it. Inside you will find a cozy country look, with wine posters, cheese wheels and a chalkboard of daily specials.
Rated 4.6 stars from more than 500 Google reviews, Le Refuge sticks to French classics. Start with onion soup, escargots (snails in garlic butter) or the duck liver mousse with Cognac. Mains include bouillabaisse (the Provençal fish stew), frog legs Provençale, beef Wellington, salmon en croûte and veal Normande. Soft-shell crabs appear in season, and crème brûlée or profiteroles finish the meal.
Reservations are taken by phone, and it is wise to book early, especially around holidays. Casual dress is welcome, and parking is mostly on the street. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday, so check hours before you go. A prix fixe menu is also available, and the wine list is long but includes reasonably priced bottles, according to the restaurant.
Address: 127 N Washington St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: lerefugealexandria.com
Taverna Cretekou
Taverna Cretekou has served regional Greek cooking at 818 King Street since 1973. Christos and Denise Papaloizou own it, and they come from a Greek restaurant family that has opened several places in Alexandria. The dining rooms are inside a historic house, with bright murals on the walls, and a garden patio tucked behind it opens for dining in the warmer months.
Its 4.5-star rating across more than 1,100 Google reviews rests on a menu that labels which part of Greece each dish comes from. Try the exohikon, a crisp phyllo roll filled with lamb, cheese, artichokes and pine nuts, or the stuffed flounder, an Aegean specialty. For dessert, Aphrodite’s apricots are poached in white wine and orange and served over yogurt with honey and walnuts.
Call to reserve, since the restaurant takes bookings by phone. It is closed Mondays, serves lunch and dinner Tuesday through Friday and keeps longer hours on the weekend, so check hours before you go. The patio is open in spring, summer and early fall. Lunch suits the old-world feel of the house, and service can be unhurried, so allow some time.
Address: 818 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: tavernacretekou.com
Landini Brothers
Landini Brothers opened at 115 King Street on October 5, 1979, when Franco Landini and his brother Piero began serving Tuscan-style Italian food near the Potomac. It has grown over the decades into a multi-floor restaurant with a bar and private rooms, and Franco’s son Noe now runs it. The longtime head chef joined in the first year and has led the kitchen since 1985.
Rated 4.4 stars from more than 1,800 Google reviews, Landini Brothers is known for veal. The scaloppine di vitello Landini was the restaurant’s first signature veal dish, and the scaloppa alla Parmigiana is another classic. Tortellini in brodo (small stuffed pasta in broth), agnolotti alla Fiorentina and grilled rack of lamb fill out a traditional menu, and there is a long list of seafood and pasta dishes too.
Reserve through the website, and call about last seating if you are coming late. Lunch and dinner are served daily, so it works for a midday meal as well as a special night out. Valet parking is offered at King and Lee Streets on set days and hours. Parties of six or more are served on a single check, so plan ahead for group dinners.
Address: 115 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: landinibrothers.com
The Warehouse
The Warehouse is a seafood and steak house at 214 King Street, close to the river, in a historic building. The dining room has an antique mahogany bar and walls hung with caricatures of local figures. Co-owner and executive chef Sert Ruamthong has worked at the restaurant for more than 30 years, and the menu is built around American Creole and Cajun dishes.
With 4.4 stars from more than 1,800 Google reviews, it is a dependable choice for New Orleans-style cooking. Start with crawfish and shrimp beignets or charbroiled oysters. The all-lump crab cakes, steak Pontchartrain and crawfish étouffée (a rich Louisiana stew served over rice) are mainstays, and the Creole bread pudding or hazelnut crème brûlée closes the meal.
Reservations are taken by phone or on the website. Brunch is served on Saturday and Sunday, and the restaurant calls its Sunday brunch very popular. Dinner entrées sit on the pricier side for Old Town, so the lunch specials and happy-hour pages on the website are worth a look if you want a lighter bill. Hours vary by day, so check before you go.
Address: 214 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: warehouseoldtown.com
The Majestic
The Majestic has been on King Street since 1932, when John Gadanos opened it at 622 King Street. It moved to 911 King Street in 1949 with an Art Deco makeover, closed in 1978 and was restored in 2001. Chef Santiago Lopez bought the restaurant and relaunched it on April 10, 2026. The neon sign, tin ceiling tiles and mosaic floor remain, and the kitchen is open to the dining room.
Its 4.6 stars come from more than 2,000 Google reviews, many of them from before the 2026 relaunch. The new menu is New American with Mediterranean touches such as preserved lemon, sumac and za’atar (a Middle Eastern herb and sesame blend). Order the lobster pot pie, the prime New York strip au poivre or the saffron P.E.I. mussels. The duck and pancetta dumplings and the roasted lamb shank are also worth a look.
Reservations are accepted for lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, and walk-ins are welcome. Brunch & Bubbles is a two-course weekend option with champagne, and the bar runs a weekday happy hour. Dinner runs later on Monday through Saturday than on Sunday, so check hours before you go. Because ownership and the menu changed this spring, rely on the current menu rather than older reviews.
Address: 911 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: themajesticva.com
Vermilion
Vermilion is a two-level restaurant at 1120 King Street, at North Fayette Street. Upstairs is the more formal dining room, with brick and cork walls and its own menu, and downstairs is a gastropub-style tavern with a separate menu. It has been an Old Town night-out fixture for roughly two decades, closed during the pandemic and reopened in July 2022 under Neighborhood Restaurant Group.
Rated 4.5 stars from more than 900 Google reviews, Vermilion drew fresh praise in 2024 from Washington Post critic Tom Sietsema after chef Tony Chittum returned to the kitchen. The menu follows Mid-Atlantic farms and waters and changes often. Look for Bettie’s Buns, salted yeast rolls with whipped sorghum butter, and fried oysters served on the shell. Downstairs, the chef’s butter burger is the casual order.
Reserve through OpenTable for the dining room and for weekend brunch, while bar and lounge seats are first come, first served. The Farm Table is a family-style, three-course option that shows off much of the menu. Dinner is served nightly except Monday, when the restaurant is closed. Because menus rotate, check the website before you go to see what is on.
Address: 1120 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: vermilionrestaurant.com
Josephine
Josephine is a French brasserie at 109 South St. Asaph Street, in a former Old Town firehouse that spreads over three floors. Neighborhood Restaurant Group opened it in June 2023. A glass-roofed atrium dining room anchors the space, with a downstairs bar, a hidden lounge called Bar Jo, a champagne lounge with a fireplace on the top floor and a small courtyard for warm weather.
With 4.6 stars from more than 900 Google reviews, Josephine pairs French classics with a raw bar. Order the country pâté, which follows a 100-year-old recipe, then the bavette (a flank-style cut) steak frites or the duck confit with spaetzle. Le Grand Plateau, a large shellfish platter, suits a group, and French onion soup and beef bourguignon cover the comfort end. The wine list runs past 350 French bottles.
Book through OpenTable, especially for Friday and Saturday dinner. Lunch is served on weekdays and brunch on weekends, and a late-afternoon happy hour covers the downstairs bar, Bar Jo and the patio. Dinner hours shift by night, with an earlier start on Saturday, so check hours before you go. The cheese list is entirely French, which makes a good course to share.
Address: 109 S St Asaph St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: josephineoldtown.com
Nasime
Nasime is a tiny Japanese restaurant at 1209 King Street that calls itself “Tiny Tokyo in Old Town.” It has fewer than 20 seats, one chef in the kitchen and a single seven-course tasting menu each night. Chef and owner Yuh Shimomura trained in Tokyo’s Ginza district and has more than 20 years of Japanese cooking experience. Washingtonian placed it at No. 12 on its 2026 list of the area’s 100 best restaurants.
Its 4.7-star rating across more than 400 Google reviews reflects a kappo-style, chef-led meal built around the seasons. Dishes change, but recent menus have included seared Japanese wagyu with truffled shoyu, charbroiled lamb chops in a foie gras and miso sauce, and lightly fried Spanish octopus in dashi broth. A sashimi assortment and a noodle soup, recently made with duck and matsutake mushrooms, are staples.
Reserve on Resy, and do it early, because the room is small. Dinner is served Tuesday through Saturday, and the restaurant is closed Sunday, Monday and national holidays. The menu is fixed, so mention allergies or dietary needs when you book, since the kitchen can adjust with advance notice. Expect one of the pricier dinners in Old Town, best saved for an occasion.
Address: 1209 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: nasimerestaurant.com
Old House Cosmopolitan
Old House Cosmopolitan is a family-run restaurant at 1024 Cameron Street serving German, Bosnian and Croatian food. Ivan and Amela Svalina opened it in 2018 in a historic Old Town building that they renovated, leaving the original brick in place. The dining room has brick walls, beams and dark wooden tables, and a rooftop deck looks out over the neighborhood.
Rated 4.7 stars from more than 1,000 Google reviews, it is a favorite for hearty plates. The schnitzel is the headliner, and the veal versions, topped with a fried egg or stuffed with spicy peppers and feta, earned a Washingtonian Cheap Eats award in 2018. Add the käse spätzle (egg noodles with melted cheese and onions), ćevapčići (grilled Balkan sausages) or Schweinshaxe, a roasted pork knuckle with sauerkraut.
The restaurant is open all day, with a lunch menu and daily chef’s specials posted on Instagram, so check hours before you go. German drafts and a wine list that includes Croatian bottles are on offer, and the Cosmopolitan Bar runs a weekday happy hour. Portions are generous, so consider sharing a starter. For groups or weekend dinners, call ahead to ask about reservations.
Address: 1024 Cameron St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: oldhousecosmopolitan.com
Ada’s on the River
Ada’s on the River is at 3 Pioneer Mill Way in Robinson Landing, right on the Potomac, and it was the first restaurant to open in that waterfront development. It opened in January 2021 and is named for the mathematician Ada Lovelace, with artwork showing her and writers of her era. Floor-to-ceiling windows, 15 feet tall, frame the river, and a patio sits outside.
Rated 4.6 stars from more than 2,300 Google reviews, Ada’s cooks over live fire, with wood-fired steaks and fresh seafood. The jumbo leek and shallot crab cakes are the dish most associated with it. Other good orders are the coal-roasted chicken, the beef tartare cannoli and a Valrhona chocolate soufflé. Weekend brunch brings lemon and ricotta pancakes, a lobster omelette and a fried chicken biscuit.
Book on OpenTable, and ask for a table by the windows or on the patio. This is one of the pricier restaurants in Old Town. Lunch is a calmer way to see the river, brunch runs Saturday and Sunday, and a weekday happy hour built around martinis starts in the afternoon. Check hours before you go, since they vary by day.
Address: 3 Pioneer Mill Way, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: adasontheriver.com
Jula’s on the Potomac
Jula’s on the Potomac is on the fourth floor of Building 44 at 44 Canal Center Plaza, in Old Town North, a little under a mile from the 100 block of King Street. The Riverfront Dining Room overlooks the Potomac, and from the table you can watch sailboats and rowing crews. An outdoor terrace is open to guests 12 and older, and a lounge and a tasting room share the floor.
With 4.8 stars from more than 3,700 Google reviews, Jula’s is a top-rated choice for a meal with a river view. The kitchen, led by executive chef Thomas Crenshaw, cooks modern American food built around prime steaks and seafood. A seafood tower is the showpiece, and diners often mention the crab bisque and the lamb lollipops. Weekend brunch is served too.
Reserve on OpenTable or by phone, and ask for a window table in the Riverfront Dining Room. The restaurant is closed Mondays, serves lunch Tuesday through Friday and brunch on weekends, and runs a Clicquot Golden Hour at the bar on weekday afternoons. Parking is in the building garage for a fee, so budget for that when you plan the evening.
Address: 44 Canal Center Plaza 4th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: julasotp.com
Virtue Feed & Grain
Virtue Feed & Grain is a modern American tavern at 106 South Union Street, in a brick building that was a feed house in the 1800s beside historic Wales Alley, where beer was sold as early as 1786. It opened in 2011 after a renovation that reused old bricks and reclaimed wood, including flooring from a pre-Civil War Wisconsin barn. High-water stains from Hurricane Isabel still mark the lower-level beams.
Rated 4.5 stars from more than 5,400 Google reviews, it is a big, easygoing crowd-pleaser. The Virtue burger, the prime rib French dip and the shrimp and grits are on the dinner menu, along with the Old Town crab dip and duck poutine (fries topped with gravy and cheese). Weekend brunch brings chilaquiles, brisket Benedict and a lobster omelette. Whiskey is the bar’s specialty, with flights and many old fashioneds.
Reserve on OpenTable for the dining room. Patio seating is first come, first served and has a two-hour table limit, and the large patio is dog-friendly. Brunch is served on Saturday and Sunday, and Wednesday has a wine deal on select bottles, so check hours and specials before you go. The bar is busy on weekend nights, so go early if you want a quieter meal.
Address: 106 S Union St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: virtuefeedgrain.com
Royal Nepal Restaurant
Royal Nepal is a casual, halal-certified restaurant at 3807 Mount Vernon Avenue in North Del Ray, serving Nepalese and Indian food from family recipes. It has operated since 2017 and has since landed on Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants list and on Northern Virginia Magazine’s best-restaurants lists. The room is small and welcoming, a few miles up Mount Vernon Avenue from Old Town.
Its 4.7-star rating across more than 1,600 Google reviews starts with the momos, which are Nepali dumplings. Critics keep ordering the yak filling, served with cilantro-mint and tomato dipping sauces, and goat is also on offer. Follow them with lamb curry, wild-boar saag (a spinach curry) or crispy okra. The cocktails are served with large spherical ice and are worth a look.
Book through the website’s table link, since the dining room is small. The restaurant is closed Mondays and opens at lunchtime on most other days, so check hours before you go. Online ordering for pickup and delivery is available, which makes it an easy dinner to take home. Prices are on the gentler side compared with Old Town’s dressier rooms.
Address: 3807 Mt Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22305
Website: royalnepalrestaurant.com
Del Ray Café
Del Ray Café occupies a refurbished 1925 house at 205 East Howell Avenue in Del Ray, styled as a home away from home with the feel of an old Virginia farmhouse. Laurent and Margaret Janowsky run it. Laurent grew up in Alsace, France, and trained under chef Jean-Louis Palladin. The kitchen cooks French country food with local, natural and organic ingredients and serves brunch and dinner every day.
Rated 4.6 stars from more than 1,800 Google reviews, the café is a popular brunch stop. The eggs Benedict come on croissant bread, with versions that include Italian burrata and prosciutto, smoked salmon or jumbo lump crab. Other picks are the croque madame, the pancakes and the SOS, a military-style dish of chipped beef in gravy. At dinner, look for bouillabaisse, PEI mussels, rotisserie chicken and crêpes.
Book through the website’s reservation link, especially for weekend brunch. Brunch is served daily into the afternoon, and dinner starts at 4 p.m., so check hours before you go. The restaurant describes itself as food for the whole family, so it is an easy choice for groups with kids. Carryout can be ordered by phone or online if you would rather eat at home.
Address: 205 E Howell Ave, Alexandria, VA 22301
Website: delraycafe.com
Matt & Tony’s All Day Kitchen + Bar
Matt & Tony’s opened in March 2022 at 1501 Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray as an all-day kitchen and bar serving scratch-made American comfort food from breakfast through dinner. It is named for owner Matt Sloan’s great-grandfather, Anton “Tony” Schabas, an Austrian pastry chef who found work at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, where his rye bread became well known.
Rated 4.6 stars from more than 1,900 Google reviews, it serves food meant for sharing at the table. Order the chicken and waffles, the shrimp and grits or the braised ribs. Brunch dishes include French toast and masa pancakes, and the Caesar salad comes with rye croutons, a nod to Tony’s bread. Save room for the Sacher torte, a Viennese chocolate cake.
Reservations are available through OpenTable, and the kitchen opens early for breakfast, so it works for a first meal of the day as well as dinner. Coffee is from Compass Coffee, and the bar pours mimosas and local beer. Check hours before you go. Junction Bakery & Bistro is across the street, so Mount Vernon Avenue is easy to explore on foot.
Address: 1501 Mt Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22301
Website: mattandtonysva.com
Junction Bakery & Bistro
Junction Bakery & Bistro is a neighborhood bakery, bar and bistro at 1508 Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray. It opened in the summer of 2016 and focuses on making as much as possible in-house, from pastries and sauces to smoked meats. The bakery also supplies fresh bread to other restaurants, including Landini Brothers in Old Town, which shares the same restaurant group.
Rated 4.3 stars from more than 1,000 Google reviews, Junction is a good place to start the day. The case holds butter, almond and dark chocolate croissants, cinnamon buns, scones and a cheddar chive biscuit. For a full breakfast, try the biscuits and gravy, the brioche French toast or the huevos rancheros. Later on, the menu includes a Cuban sandwich, a fried chicken sandwich and French onion soup.
Order at the counter, with coffee from Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters. Morning pastries and breakfast run earlier on weekdays and stretch into the afternoon on weekends, before the lunch and supper menu takes over. A full bar is open all day, and happy hour is on weekday afternoons. Check hours before you go, since they differ by day.
Address: 1508 Mt Vernon Ave #1718, Alexandria, VA 22301
Website: junctionbakery.com
District Biscuit Company
District Biscuit Company is a small café at 3401 Mount Vernon Avenue, between a hair salon and a car wash. Chef Michael Vidal developed the square buttermilk biscuit during the pandemic, and he and managing partner Alex Rosenberg first sold them at farmers markets. The café opened in December 2022, and the biscuits are now also shipped frozen to homes and sold to restaurants.
Rated 4.6 stars from more than 500 Google reviews, this is all about the biscuit, which has crisp corners, flaky layers and a fluffy center. Order a biscuit breakfast sandwich with egg and bacon, or the Biscuit Burger, a patty and hollandaise stuffed into a biscuit. The biscuit beignets, bite-sized pieces tossed in cinnamon or powdered sugar, are the sweet option, and a plain biscuit with honey butter is worth a try.
The café is open for breakfast and lunch every day, closing in the early afternoon, so go in the morning. Orders can be placed ahead online for pickup, which helps on busy weekends. Holiday and bad-weather hours differ, so call or check the website first. It is a quick stop rather than a long sit-down meal, and a good start before a walk along Mount Vernon Avenue.
Address: 3401 Mt Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22305
Website: districtbiscuitco.com
Final Thoughts
Book ahead for Friday and Saturday dinners and for weekend brunch, and reserve early at small rooms such as Nasime and Le Refuge. Several places close one or two days a week, often Monday, so check hours before you go. Old Town is compact and walkable, and the Metro station at King Street is on the Blue and Yellow Lines, with a free trolley running along King Street. Patio dining at Taverna Cretekou is a warm-weather option, while Del Ray’s Mount Vernon Avenue is the place for an easy morning, since several breakfast spots sit within a short walk of each other.
Planning the rest of your trip? See our guide to the best things to do in Alexandria, VA.
Main photo, from left: Mitili Mitili, Hybrid Storytellers and David B Townsend / Unsplash
